


Your Faith Was Strong But You Needed Proof

by Keira_63



Series: The Minor Fall, The Major Lift [4]
Category: BBC Sherlock, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Part of the Minor Fall Major Lift series, Set between series 2 & 3, Spoilers for series 1 & 2, Story titles taken from the song Hallelujah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 13:10:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1227628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keira_63/pseuds/Keira_63
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John, Greg and Mrs Hudson all believed in Sherlock Holmes. They all knew he wasn’t a fake. But however strong that faith was, they were all convinced he was dead. Molly knew they’d need proof - she just hoped they’d get it soon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Faith Was Strong But You Needed Proof

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fourth part in a series spanning from pre-series until post series 3. It was inspired by lyrics from the song Hallelujah - the series title and each story title is a line, or part of a line, from the song. This part is set in between series 2 and 3.  
> No beta so sorry for any mistakes.

Occasionally, she received postcards from him. He never wrote anything and only signed them with the name Helena Rose. It was that which tipped her off in regards to the sender - Helena Rose Powell had been the victim in the first case she and Sherlock had worked together on. Aside from that, she'd read his handwriting for years, and not even his attempts could disguise it.  
That was the only communication, sporadic and lacking any real information, that she got from him.  
At least she knew he was alive.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When everything started to come out at Scotland Yard - all the times Sherlock had consulted unofficially, all the scenes he'd been allowed access to and the evidence he had removed and examined - the higher-ups were not impressed.  
Sherlock's arrangement with Greg Lestrade had been semi-formal at best, and while some were aware, they overlooked it as Sherlock kept solving cases. But with the scandal of the incident involving the ambassador's children and Sherlock's 'suicide', they were no longer willing to overlook anything.  
There was an enquiry, of course. Both Anderson and Donovan testified, and Molly gave them some credit for remaining supportive of their boss and showing some sadness and regret at Sherlock's 'death'. Neither of them had ever really believed he was a proper fake, only that he was dangerous and had been involved in the kidnapping of the ambassador's children. Now, they even seemed to be questioning the second assumption, although Donovan, at least, would always see the potential for danger in Sherlock.  
(Then again, Molly thought you would have to be a fool to think Sherlock was harmless in any way).  
Anderson and Donovan had spent too much time around Sherlock, had been on the receiving end of too many insulting deductions containing details Sherlock couldn't have just researched. They knew his deductions were real. They just didn't think it was right or safe for him to have so much free reign in regards to Scotland Yard's cases.  
And Molly could scarcely blame them for disliking Sherlock. They were both cleverer than the consulting detective would admit (and Sally Donovan was really very intelligent), but no one ever really measured up to Sherlock (except perhaps Mycroft, and Molly would never tell Sherlock that to his face).   
She didn't like that they called Sherlock a freak, but she also knew he called them names just as cruel, belittling observations that were often correct or sensible.  
Sherlock didn't play nice with people, and in this case it had come back to bite him. Perhaps they might have given him the benefit of the doubt if he hadn't been so cruel and dismissive.  
Once everything was over, when (if) Sherlock returned home to London, Molly thought she really needed to have a conversation with him about alienating potential allies.

Greg got off with one year probation, keeping his rank as Detective Inspector, but staying under supervision to prove he kept to the rules.  
There had been talk of demotion, but he was too good a detective (and she suspected Mycroft had interfered a little). Still, probation was annoying enough to Greg, who hated having someone watching over his shoulder.  
"It's like they're completing forgetting all the bloody cases we solved because of Sherlock," he had griped to her, one evening a few months after Sherlock's fall, "sure, he could be a bastard, but he was generally a bastard who was right."  
Molly had nodded in all the right places, but had spoken little. That night Greg hadn’t needed someone to talk with, but a person he could vent to. He didn’t deserve what was getting thrown at him, because few people could really stop Sherlock, and he had helped Scotland Yard with a lot of cases.   
She knew how much his job meant to Greg, especially since his personal life consisted of a few friends always involved in investigations and crimes and a wife he hadn’t loved for years. It hurt her to see her friend so despondent about the lack of trust in him he now experienced at work. She only hoped Scotland Yard would begin to trust him again soon, especially considering how well he was doing on his cases, determined to put away as many criminals as possible.

Greg’s faith in Sherlock had been shaken by Moriarty’s tricks, but quickly restored. He believed in Sherlock Holmes. Now she, and the rest of his friends, had to make Greg believe in himself again.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Molly visited Mrs Hudson at least once a week, and very often more. She worried about her, without Sherlock and John to watch out for her. The landlady was tough, but she certainly wasn't invincible or immune to pain (physical or emotional).  
John didn't visit, the hurt still too raw, and so Mrs Hudson got lonely. Molly took her out shopping, or to lunch, or just stayed at Baker Street. She thought it made a difference, although Mrs Hudson still grieved terribly.  
Molly made sure Greg visited occasionally as well, checking the locks and security were good and easing Molly's worries a little. She knew Mycroft most likely took care of security (and she was thankful for the surveillance she knew he still had on the place), but she felt better having Greg check.

She liked visiting Baker Street. Despite the pain she felt, being in Sherlock’s old home when he was supposedly dead, it was comforting to be reminded of him, and it helped her remember that he was still alive.  
She also enjoyed it because it was the one place no one ever doubted Sherlock. Mrs Hudson, while not blind to the consulting detective’s faults, adored Sherlock, just as he had cared for her, even if he showed it less.   
Sometimes she and Mrs Hudson would end up crying over their memories of Sherlock, but Molly always knew there would never be any suggestion that Sherlock was a fake in 221 and, considering the number of people she heard talking negatively about Sherlock every day, that was something she very much needed.

Mrs Hudson never lost faith in Sherlock, never once doubted that he was genuine in his deductive abilities. She wouldn’t hear anything else from anybody, and Molly admired her immensely for that.  
But Mrs Hudson was so devastated by Sherlock’s apparent death, so lonely now Sherlock was no longer around and John was avoiding almost everyone. She needed Sherlock back, needed someone to both mother and scold. Molly hoped she wouldn’t have to wait long. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John met Molly's friend Mary Morstan three months after Sherlock's 'suicide'.  
Molly hadn't planned it. It had been a complete coincidence that they'd run into John on one of their girly days out. In hindsight, though, Molly thought perhaps she should have thought about introducing them.  
Mary was just the sort of woman John needed in his life, as a friend or more. She was more removed from the Sherlock situation than the rest of John's close friends, which meant interactions weren't tainted with the memories of his lost best friend. Additionally, Mary was an excellent listener, kind, intelligent and funny.  
Mary made John smile five minutes into their meeting. Molly thought she was a miracle worker.

John started dating Mary six months after Sherlock's 'death'. Molly was delighted for both of them, but even Mary couldn't persuade John to stop avoiding his friends.  
After those first few weeks, when they all clung to each other in their grief, John had pulled away. She guessed that they reminded him of Sherlock, of what John had lost. It still hurt, though.  
He saw Mrs Hudson only when he retrieved his belongings to move into a new flat. Mycroft retained 221B, which meant Sherlock's things went mercifully untouched (she didn't want to think about the tantrum he'd throw if he returned to find everything packed away or gone). John left as soon as he could find a place - she didn't blame him, since she knew Sherlock wasn't dead, but still had trouble entering 221B without breaking down a bit.  
John saw Molly at the hospital occasionally, their paths crossing when he met up with Mary. It was usually awkward, and Molly always wished she could tell John that his best friend still lived. She kept quiet, though. Too much depended on her silence.   
Still, at least she saw him occasionally.  
Unlike Greg. John hadn't punched him, as he had Mycroft, but he certainly gave the Detective Inspector the cold shoulder for a few months, angry that he had been swayed (even if only for a moment) into doubting Sherlock.

So she knew little about how John was doing. He never looked particularly well when she saw him at St Barts, but she wasn’t sure his behaviour was typical then, in a place full of memories of cases with Sherlock.  
She didn’t like to ask Mary. It seemed like a betrayal, like talking behind John’s back.  
Her mind told her she’d done worse already. She’d hidden Sherlock’s survival from his best friend.   
But John couldn’t know Sherlock survived. It was imperative that he remained convinced of his death.  
Still, she felt guilty and refused to question Mary in regards to John. Thankfully, her friend seemed to realise how worried she was and occasionally offered hints, betraying no confidences but letting her know about John.  
John improved, slowly (very slowly, he’d probably never be quite the same again), but surely. He rebuilt his life as much as possible, with an empty space where Sherlock had been (but a space nonetheless; John was so very loyal) and a new spot for Mary.

John was the one she worried most about when it came to Sherlock’s hopeful return.  
He had grieved so much, but once he stopped hoping for Sherlock to be alive, he became quite determined that he was dead.  
She had no idea how he would react to the news that Sherlock lived. He was patient (he had to be, to put up with Sherlock), but he was certainly capable of anger and Molly knew there would be a lot directed at Sherlock (though she doubted Sherlock really realised that).  
She was also worried he might hate her for helping to hide it, for refusing to give him any hope.  
(It was for his own good, though, for his safety, and for Greg and Mrs Hudson’s).  
John needed Sherlock, though, just as Sherlock needed John. When Molly wished for Sherlock’s return, it was for John most of all. She would take all the anger he could throw at her, if it meant John could finally have his best friend back.  
She only hoped that finding out the truth wouldn’t destroy John and Sherlock’s friendship.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Molly went through the motions for the most part. She still had interesting corpses turn up in the morgue, but the excitement had been lost when Sherlock went away.  
She could hear his voice in her head sometimes, berating idiotic suggestions from those around her and offering methods and thoughts on her work. She'd become better at her job, thanks to him, and she truly started to realise it once he'd gone and she relied entirely on her own judgement, without any of his little hints.  
Hearing voices was probably not a good sign, but she was lonely. The morgue was generally quiet and cold, Mary was occupied largely with John (who was MIA most of the time, in regards to her).  
She missed Sherlock, so very much.

The morgue is even more like a tomb than it had been before Sherlock’s leap from the roof. Before, people used to come down and talk to her occasionally. Not many, because even doctors seemed to have an aversion to the morgue, but enough to give her some company occasionally.  
Almost no one appears now unless they absolutely have to. Mary is about the only exception. They’d all thought she was strange before, interested in death and helping the rude detective who always deduced them. Now there’s even more for them to gossip about. The woman who was in love with the fraud detective.  
In the end, she finds she’s glad they’re not down there. It was bad enough to be gawked at when she got lunch, and she didn’t need it when she was trying to work.  
Besides, who needed friends?  
(Stupid question. She’d like friends. She missed her friends. She missed Sherlock).  
Sometimes she wished she had as much derision for the general human population as Sherlock and Mycroft seemed to. It would make things much easier.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Anderson started spouting theories about Sherlock surviving, Molly panicked.  
Granted, some (most) of his suggestions were quite ridiculous, including incredible stunts, weird ideas and (in one case) Derren Brown.  
Still, there were a couple of theories that were very realistic, and she wouldn't be surprised if they bore some resemblance to either Sherlock's method for surviving, or some of his back-up ideas.  
One of Anderson's favourites, which included a movie star kiss for her with Sherlock, she managed to keep from John, Greg and Mrs Hudson. It had no real truth in it (even if she wouldn't have minded such a kiss from Sherlock), but she worried it might plant the idea in their minds that Molly could have hidden something, or helped Sherlock to survive.  
Mycroft, she knew, had a dozen or more plans in place for various scenarios in which Anderson's ramblings got too much attention, or strayed too close to the truth and endangered Sherlock.  
She thought he got entirely too much enjoyment from the idea.

Thankfully, John, Mrs Hudson and Greg were quite convinced of Sherlock's death. John witnessing his leap from St Barts and their faith in Molly's autopsy (guilt, she always felt guilty now) saw to that.  
Even Greg, who heard most of Anderson's theories, though the man was just feeling guilty. He was sure it was Anderson's way of trying to atone to Sherlock, just as Sally Donovan chose to throw herself into her work even further to escape the stirrings of guilt.

Still, if Anderson (he had brains, but there were plenty of cleverer people around) could formulate such theories, what was to say that no one else could.  
Molly’s sporadic nightmares (Sherlock jumping and not slowing, just hitting the ground, truly dead, no way to save him) grew more frequent and included the dead bodies of John, Greg and Mrs Hudson, killed when Moriarty’s men realised Sherlock wasn’t actually dead.   
Mycroft came to see her, Anthea tapping away on her Blackberry as usual. He’d obviously been monitoring her and she wasn’t surprised, but he had apparently picked up on her worry (obviously, the surveillance on her was even more invasive than she’d realised - she would have argued about it with him, if she’d thought it would make a difference).  
Still, it was almost an honour that he’d deigned to visit her himself (or rather, politely kidnap her so they could talk in private). She was just annoyed by it.  
She forgave him when he informed her, straightforwardly and with none of the usual Holmes insults, that there was no evidence to be found of Sherlock’s survival except in the minds of those that had helped, all of whom were loyal to Sherlock or (in Anthea’s case) to Mycroft.  
He was strangely reassuring. She still worried, but she also had some idea of Mycroft’s impressive power and thought she could, in this case at least, trust him not to mess up Sherlock’s plans.  
The nightmares lessened.   
She laughed at the thought of Sherlock’s expression if she told him his brother had helped stop her nightmares.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John, Greg and Mrs Hudson all had faith in Sherlock's talents. They knew he was no fraud.  
But they were also sure he was dead, and Molly knew it would not be easy for them when they discovered the truth.  
And things were changing. None of them forgot Sherlock, but as the length of his absence approached two years, they had all begun to move on.  
John and Mary's relationship grew stronger, and Molly saw the love in their eyes, an knew an engagement was almost certain in the near future.  
Greg finally split properly with his wife and filed for divorce, Sherlock in death (or so the world thought) finally managing what he never could when he was alive and pushing the Detective Inspector to leave the woman who had made him miserable for years. He'd thrown himself into his work like Donovan, and through that found that even without Sherlock's help, he and Donovan made an impressive team.  
Mrs Hudson stopped crying so much, started to laugh at stories about Sherlock and struck up a friendship with a Mr Peter Jameson down the street which soon led to a promising romance.

Then there was Molly herself. She met Tom.  
He was ordinary, nice, cheerful, so very different from Sherlock (even if his physical appearance, so close to the Consulting Detective's, was what first caught her eye).  
Her friends knew she was dating, but she never let them know how serious it was.  
It was telling, she thought, that they hadn't yet met Tom (she knew what they'd say, though, about his resemblance to Sherlock).  
They didn't even know when she got engaged, almost two years to the day since Sherlock's 'death'. She never mentioned it, took the ring off whenever she saw John, Greg, Mrs Hudson or Mary.  
It was terrible, an obvious sign that she didn't really want to marry Tom.  
He was nice, but nice would never be enough for her after Sherlock, however much she cared about Tom.  
She refused to end it. She was stubbornly blind, half-heartedly engaged to Tom while she truly held out for Sherlock's return.  
It was cruel to Tom.  
She still didn't end it.

The two year mark passed and Sherlock was still away. Molly knew better than to ask Mycroft for information, and so she stayed in the dark.  
She needed Sherlock to return. So did the others, John especially.  
The longer it took, the harder it would be for Sherlock to find his place with his friends once again. There always be one there, of course, but it was already so altered.  
If he didn't hurry, Sherlock would miss John's wedding (and her own, though she knew deep down it would never take place, not to Tom at least). He'd miss the boat on threatening Mr Jameson about being kind to Mrs Hudson, and on congratulating Greg on finally leaving his toxic marriage.  
Sherlock didn't deal well with change.  
He'd have a few surprises on his return, likely, in his opinion, to be rather unpleasant ones.  
She hoped daily for his return. For herself, John, Greg, Mrs Hudson and all of the people who needed him, even for Mycroft (who loved his brother, no matter what he said).  
Their faith in Sherlock was strong, but they needed the real thing.  
Molly only wished he would come soon.

**Author's Note:**

> See the notes on the series page for the titles of the upcoming stories in this series.  
> Thanks for reading. Comments welcomed.  
> Sorry it took me longer with this one. I got busy and found it difficult writing it. Not sure when the next one will be up since things are busy at the moment.


End file.
